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Researchers found that adults with higher estimated daily activity tended to score better on tests of attention, cognitive control and reward decisions. The observational study cannot show that walking improves cognition, and the measured associations were small.
Adults with higher estimated daily activity scored better on three of four cognitive tests in a study of 3,093 participants, researchers reported in Scientific Reports. The findings link activity with attention, cognitive control and decision-making, but the observational study measured cognition once and cannot establish that walking caused better performance or prevented decline.
The researchers analyzed records from participants in the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program, including Fitbit step counts and blood pressure data collected over a period spanning 2009 to 2023. Participants were aged 18 to 93. Cognitive performance was assessed once, from September 2023 onward, using four tasks that measured sustained attention, cognitive control, decisions involving immediate and delayed rewards, and recognition of facial emotions.
Participants’ step-count patterns were grouped into three clusters averaging 5,108, 8,875 and 14,161 steps per day. Those in the two higher-step clusters scored better than the lowest-step group on the Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Task, the Flanker task and the Delay Discounting task. The highest-step cluster had the best scores on the first and third of those tests; the middle cluster had the highest Flanker scores.
In adjusted analyses, each estimated 1,000 additional daily steps was associated with scores 0.31 points higher on the attention task and 0.26 points higher on the Flanker task. Greater activity was also associated with better performance on the Delay Discounting task. Blood pressure findings were narrower: higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer performance on that decision-making task, while diastolic pressure was not significantly associated with any of the four tests.
Activity Links Varied by Test
The results add evidence from wearable activity records to research on physical activity and cognition, an area where earlier studies have often relied on self-reported exercise or shorter observation periods. The study also considered blood pressure alongside activity, allowing researchers to examine whether the two measures were associated with performance on the same tasks.
The findings do not show that a particular step target will improve brain function. The reported associations were small, and participants’ activity and blood pressure changes over time were not significantly associated with cognitive performance. The study therefore offers a measured snapshot of relationships between estimated activity, blood pressure and test scores, rather than evidence that changing either factor will alter cognition.
For readers, the distinction matters because cognitive health can be affected by many factors, and a statistical association cannot identify cause on its own. The results may help shape further research, but they are not a clinical recommendation or a prediction of an individual’s cognitive health.
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How Researchers Measured Activity
The study addressed limitations the authors noted in earlier work, including the use of self-reported activity and assessments of exposures over shorter periods. Fitbit records supplied step counts, while the analysis modeled activity and blood pressure over time and related participant-specific estimates to cognitive test results.
The sample was not evenly representative of the wider population: 57% were aged 60 or older, 75% were White and 68% were female. Most had some college education or higher, and 92% were born in the United States. The researchers adjusted their analyses for factors including age, education, marital status, income and country of origin, but those adjustments cannot remove every possible source of bias.
The four tests measured different abilities, and the pattern was not uniform across them. After adjustment, blood pressure was not significantly associated with scores on the emotional-recognition, Flanker or attention tasks. The reported blood pressure association was limited to systolic pressure and the Delay Discounting task, which assesses choices between immediate and later rewards.
“The observed effect sizes were small.”
— The study authors
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Cause and Long-Term Effects
Because participants completed cognitive tests only once, the study cannot determine whether more active people developed stronger test performance, whether people with better cognition were more likely to be active, or whether other factors contributed to both. It also cannot establish that lowering blood pressure improves cognition or that activity prevents cognitive decline or dementia.
The authors’ post-hoc analysis estimated that systolic blood pressure statistically accounted for 4.8% of the association between activity and Delay Discounting performance. This is a statistical estimate, not evidence that blood pressure caused the relationship. The activity association remained after adjustment for systolic pressure.
The source report does not provide enough information to determine whether the findings apply similarly across demographic groups or to people who do not use a Fitbit. It also does not establish a step count that would produce a cognitive benefit. The proposed explanations involving inflammation, glucose metabolism and brain plasticity remain possible mechanisms, not outcomes demonstrated by this analysis.
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Further Research Needed
The study report does not identify a specific follow-up study or next publication date. To test whether activity contributes to changes in cognition, future research would need repeated cognitive assessments and stronger ways to separate cause from correlation, such as longer-term designs or trials. Researchers could also examine whether results hold across more representative groups and across different ways of measuring activity.
For now, the reported conclusion is limited to an association between higher estimated activity and better scores on selected tests. The study does not establish that walking more will improve an individual’s cognitive performance, nor does it show that a given number of steps changes the risk of cognitive decline.
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Key Questions
Did the study prove that walking more improves brain function?
No. It found associations between estimated daily activity and scores on three tests, but its observational design and one-time cognitive assessment cannot show that walking caused the differences.
How many steps did participants take?
The researchers grouped participants into clusters averaging 5,108, 8,875 and 14,161 steps per day. These are group averages from the study, not tested step-count targets or recommendations.
Which cognitive tests were associated with higher activity?
Higher activity was associated with better scores on the Gradual Onset Continuous Performance, Flanker and Delay Discounting tasks. The study did not find the same reported association for its emotional-recognition test.
What did the study find about blood pressure?
Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer performance on the Delay Discounting task. Diastolic pressure was not significantly associated with any of the four tests, and the study cannot show that lowering blood pressure improves cognition.
Can the results be applied to everyone?
Not with confidence. The sample was mostly White, female and aged 60 or older, and the researchers used Fitbit records. The study does not establish that the findings apply equally to other populations or activity-tracking methods.
Source: rss
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